Layoffs

August 31, 1986

MANAGUA, NICARAGUA — La Prensa, the outspoken opposition newspaper, has been shut down for two months. The 230 members of the staff have continued to draw paychecks, but editor Carlos Ramirez says all will be laid off. ''They had to do it,'' he said, referring to the owners. The government closed La Prensa in a crackdown on domestic critics after the U.S. House of Representatives approved $100 million in aid to contra rebels. The newspaper was accused of serving as a mouthpiece for the Reagan administration and of receiving money from the CIA. La Prensa also criticized the U.S.-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza, whom the Sandinistas deposed.